10 Things You Should Know About Incarceration in the U.S.
U.S. incarceration rate is five times most countries'.
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Crime Rates Have Dropped - As crime rates fall in the United States, incarceration is still an economic and social issue for families and communities, according to a recent report by the Hamilton Project. Take a look at 10 things you should know about the prison system in America. —Natelege Whaley In the past 25 years, crime rates have steadily spiraled down. Between 1991 and 2001, rates dropped nearly 30 percent. They fell another 22 percent between 2001 and 2012.(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
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Low-Income Individuals More Likely to Be Victims - Although crime has dropped on average, low-income individuals are three times as likely to be victims of crimes than those with family incomes above $75,000 a year. Assault followed by acts of attempted violence were the most prevalent crimes against people with family incomes of less than $15,000 per year.(Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Most Criminals Are Under 30 - The youth make up the majority of criminal offenders, with 27 percent of known offenders being individuals ages 11 to 20 and 34 percent being ages 21 to 30. These numbers includes anyone involved in a crime whether they were arrested or not. (Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
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Low-Income Youth More Likely to Commit Riskier Crimes - When it comes to drug offenses, low-income and higher-income youth are equally likely to engage. But low-income youth are more likely to attack someone, become a gang member, steal something worth more than $50 and carry a gun. (Photo: Paul Harris, Pacificcoastnews.com)
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Stricter Laws Have Increased the Incarceration Rate - Federal and state lawmakers have established mandatory prison sentence lengths for specific offenses. Specifically, many states established the "three strikes" rule, which allowed courts to impose harsher sentences on habitual offenders. (Photo: Doug Berry/Getty Images)
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